Microsoft Cuts 800 More Positions — In its third round of layoffs this year, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) says it is cutting 800 jobs across the company today. The software giant said in January that it would eliminate up to 5,000 jobs, in response to falling sales and profits.

Microsoft Loses Don Dodge. This Is A Huge Mistake — Among the 800 or so employees laid off by Microsoft today: Don Dodge, Microsoft's Director of Business Development for the Emerging Business Team, reporting to VP Dan'l Lewin. Don writes about the change on his personal blog.

Google Friend Connect, now more personalized — (Cross-posted with the Social Web Blog) — On the subway, I bump elbows with a guy for 20 city blocks without exchanging a single word. Forty-five minutes later, I find the same guy at the local guitar shop, and we start to talk — turns out he plays a Gibson Les Paul just like I do.

Testing new tweet notifications — We're starting a limited test of notifications on twitter.com for when you have new tweets. So if one of the folks you follow has tweeted since you loaded your homepage, you'll get a little notice saying “1 new tweet” that, when clicked, will display the new content.

Google Dashboard is a new service that shows a summary of the data stored with a Google account. You'll soon find a link to Google Dashboard in the “personal settings” of the “my account” page. — The dashboard lists some of the information associated with the Google services you use …

CrunchPad Dead? Delayed By Higher-Than-Expected Costs? — The CrunchPad, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington's entry into the gadget business, is still missing in action. — Are higher-than-expected costs to blame? — One story we heard from a few people on a recent trip to California …

Experimenting with Digg Trends — Because there's so much that happens beneath the surface of Digg, we've been working on new ways to expose the most interesting stories to more people. Today we're launching a new homepage voting experiment called Digg Trends which will surface certain highly active stories …

HTC DROID Eris gets unboxed — One of our connects just blessed us with a couple shots of the HTC DROID Eris and graciously unboxed the retail packaging. We could bore you with meaningless details about how the phone is thinner and lighter than the Sprint HTC Hero, feels much better in the hand …

EMI Sues BlueBeat for Selling Beatles Tunes Online — The record label EMI is suing a little-known online music site called BlueBeat.com for selling Beatles songs without permission. — The Beatles catalog, including dozens of the top pop songs ever recorded, has famously never been licensed for sale as digital downloads.

Is Apple targeting Windows 7 pirates? — Has Apple decided that among its top potential customers for switching to a Mac are Windows 7 pirates? Based on ads that Apple is buying on Google that might be the case — search for “download Windows 7” and you'll see an Apple ad urging PC users to switch to the Mac.

Eventbrite Gets A $6.5 Million Infusion From Sequoia Capital — Popular online event site Eventbrite has raised $6.5 million in funding, according to an SEC filing. The company has confirmed the funding, and says Sequoia Capital is the new investor. Sequoia partner Roelof Botha joins the board of directors.

Google Seeks Damages In Android Suit — Six months after an Illinois man sued Google over the name “Android,” the Internet giant is turning the tables. — The average Joe may want to think twice before suing Google. — Faced with a lawsuit that alleges the Internet giant lacks legal rights …

Congress may require ISPs to block fraud sites — For the last decade or so, Internet service providers have been dealing with requests to block access to pornographic or copyright-infringing Web sites, or in China, ones that dare to criticize the government.

Create and Share custom News sections — Today, Google News is making it even easier to follow the latest stories on whatever subjects interest you. We are happy to announce our Custom sections directory, which gives users of some of our English-language editions the expanded ability …

Amazon Turns On The Twitter Pump To Fuel Referral Fees — Tonight, Amazon sent an email to members of Amazon Associates letting them know about a new feature: Twitter integration. Basically, when you're logged into your Associate account, you'll see a new “Share on Twitter” …

Apple Unveils Music-Themed Movie Push — Apple today will launch a new marketing and promotional effort designed to drive music buyers to music-themed movies in its video store. — The most visible change to the iTunes service will be a Music Movies landing page dedicated to music films …

Motorola's Droid Is Smart Success for Verizon Users — Verizon Wireless customers tend to love the company's fast 3G network. But many tech-oriented Verizon loyalists gripe about the carrier's high-end smart phones, which haven't matched the cachet and versatility of the Apple iPhone sold by AT&T. In fact …